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"We are never ever wrong. We never do mistakes. We are the ever wisest."- Ignorant humans.
Remember, no matter how often we compel our mind to deliberately think about God, no matter how much contemplation we carry within ourselves, nevertheless, because of the ignorance we'll be ever so incapable of tearing ourselves away from our sins.
Though, it is perfectly clear to us that we have forgotten about the Almighty's existence due to "Maya", that we have turned our backs to The Gracious One only because of this "Maya" but, is it a fact as we say it?
The above deliberation about “Maya” is a myth that we are diverted from the Almighty because of it. This isn't the Actual fact as it is believed to be.
Then what is the reality?
The fact is that, he was never indifferent or separated from us in the first place. Mundakopanishad says...
dvā suparṇā sayujā sakhāyā samānaṃ vṛkṣaṃ pariṣasvajāte | tayoranyaḥ pippalaṃ svādvattyanaśnannanyo abhicākaśīti || 1 ||
(3.1:1)
The Upanishads says that HE (The Almighty) is your eternal companion, your beloved friend, and HE stays with you as you breathe every time, endowed within yourself. The Atma (You) and The Paramatma (God) reside within you together. There is hardly a disconnect.
Yet, why do we never feel HIS presence within us?
The reason lies within the very definition of "Maya". Maya is, accepting things which doesn’t exist and not accepting those which exist. The Maya, being a cruel delusionist, has illusioned and manipulated us to believe that God's presence is a fallacy. Maya, and its powers, has twisted our arms to accept the ways and techniques of the materialistic world which, we believe, is the only truth.
Possessions. Even though not merely ours, we declare them as rightfully "ours". Home? Mine. Car? Mine. Family? Mine. Money? Mine. Had they been "yours" , shouldn't they be with you till the end of times? Even after death?
Why, then, is it that you have to leave them behind after a certain point of time?
No matter how many things or emotions you possess, be it your valor, be it the money, be it your everything as you believe, they are lost once you leave this Mrityuloka. That is the way it always works, even if against your very will. Whatever is visible, whatever we believe to be ours, it is, therefore, not merely ours. We fail to accept this due to the ignorance brought about by Maya. We believe those things to be facts which are actually not.
The ignorance never fades away by itself.
One can do meditation, contemplation, yajnas, but to no avail. Now, if you say this ignorance will never be washed away from us, then you'll read spiritual scriptures and acquire all the knowledge from it about God and distance ourselves from this ignorance. But this doesn't work the same way as we think.
Isn't it the reality that we, the fellow humans, fail to acquire even the limited materialistic knowledge provided to us? How, then, can we be ever competent to gain the eternal knowledge about the divine power, God?
For this knowledge to enter within us truly, we need A TEACHER. A GURU.
Unlike teachers in the material world, A SPIRITUAL MASTER, they devote their teachings and knowledge out of compassion and selflessness. He doesn't expect profits for his own, he bestows his natural love upon you. The sole motive is to nurture you to see the vague and distinct reality.
"sadgurū vaidya, vachana viśhvāsā"
(Tulsi Ramayan)
It means, The Spiritual Master is the healer, doctor. He has the ability to heal our DISEASE. Which disease? Mental illness. What is Mental Illness? the vices- Lust, Anger, Greed, Attachment, delusion, deceit, jealousy, etc.
One more problem with this mental illness is that the sufferer never accepts that he is ill. When the sufferer denies that he is ill in the first place, then why would anyone bother to care about his recovery or find a solution to it? Adding to it, the sufferer turns a blind eye on his own illness, but he surely considers others as mentally ill.
'He is like that', 'She is like that', 'He does this, she does that'. He ignores his own problems and pokes his nose in others.
A Vaidya (Healer), a spiritual master is solemnly required.
And when that spiritual master knocks at your door, he doesn't care about how big your house is or how wealthy you are, who the hell you are, but he does care about the root cause of your illness. He'll just analyze your disease. By this, the doctor, or the spiritual master, doesn't intend to poke fun at you, but is genuinely concerned about you. He wishes for your true recovery. He directs you to do the right things and avoid the wrong ones. He will heal us, always keep a check on our Devotion (Sadhana), our dedication (Sharanagati),
He makes us believe in ourselves
When a Hatchling is given birth by a bird, he comes into the world by hatching the egg, after which, the mother bird pokes/pushes it. Why it does so?
So that the hatchling spreads its wings.
The hatchling slowly opens up and the mother bird keeps poking until it has opened up fully.
Why does the mother does so? It is worried that, just as she sails across the sky, the same wouldn't be possible for the hatchling if it never even spreads his wings.
So, the hatchling eventually tries to fly with her. And finally, it is also ready to launch into the sky equally with its mother.
Equivalently, a spiritual master guides us through and makes us believe that we can achieve our goal, we can achieve God, yes, by pushing us throughout the journey.
The trust, the belief, the surety that we can actually achieve God, it can only be provided by someone who has achieved it already, that is, a spiritual master.
Such a spiritual master we call, is a MAHAPURUSH.
"gumrautitī itī gurū, giratī agyānam, itī gurū”
('Gu' refers to - Darkness, 'Ru' refers to- Destroyer)
Therefore, 'Guru' is the one who destroys our ignorance and darkness.
That is what A Guru is.
